For Better or For Worse

[Portia]

Hear, hear, Avocado! I like your comments a lot.

To reply to some of your thoughts:

"Liz just bugs the heck out of me." - She doesn't bother me as much as some of the other characters. Her girly-man brother bothers me a lot more--"Yay, I can write a bestselling novel with no effort! My hair thinks it's 1991!" etc. Liz comes across as a fairly normal person, except maybe the fact that she lives at home at 26. She has more facets than, say, Gerald.

"I've also been rooting for Granthony just because I think Lynn Johnson wants me to." - Don't do it! Do not succumb!

"Kind of the hard-to-get deal." - Wait, did you miss the memo? As soon as Liz got contacts, she became the most sought-after woman in Canada. Why? Because Lynn Johnson says so, I guess.

"So, in summary, I think Liz is destined for Granthony, whether she's actually good for him or not; LJ just needs to figure out a way to get Warren out of the way first. Any predictions on how she will do this? Will he cheat on her? Will Liz catch him doing something unsavory? Will he try to jeopardize her virtue, and get slugged by Granthony? Or will Liz actually take the initiative and say, "Eh, you know, I'm just not interested - I much prefer spineless men with weasely mustaches"?" - hahaha. I can always believe that even FBORFW could evolve organically, and that Granthony and Liz aren't destined for each other. But you're right, since her parents just love him, I'm sure the strip will end with a touching wedding. I think LJ will just kind of forget about Warren. I mean, she didn't resolve the recent April/Gerald plot.

I've got it! Warren will marry Th'ere`se. For no good reason whatsoever, except to get rid of two characters LJ doesn't want us to like. d:

[Avocado]

Yeah, what was up with the whole recent Gerald/April thing? (And why doesn't Gerald have a personality? --oh, wait, that's this comic strip.) I was enjoying the juiciness of Gerald showing up to April's with a bottle of wine and getting her to make out on the bed, and then the parents came home--and then, nothing. April sneaks him out. Parents never know. Both of them tell their friends. That's it?

I've got to agree with the comments I've seen on other FBOFW forums: April is the most interesting member of the Patterson family (seriously, is there anyone who really cares about Mike and his unisex hair and obnoxious kids? Oh, and his "best-selling" book sounds like a snooze, to say the least. What the heck does he know about a middle-aged woman in 19th century Ireland? Did he do any research on this? Does anyone care?) At least, by having sort of a rebellious side, April is at least somewhat interesting, even if she still sports her '80s bangs (the only way we can differentiate her from Liz, the hottest woman in Canada, who, in her 20s, already dresses like she's 60). So yeah, why is she with Gerald? I don't think we've ever known anything about Gerald except that he's in her band and nicks wine from his parents' liquor cabinet. I guess maybe this is why LJ is discontinuing the strip - she can't force herself to care about him any more either. It would be nice if there was a big band scandle and April made out with Duncan one night, or something.

Ooo, here's an idea: Maybe Therese is teaching high school somewhere, and gets into a teacher/student relationship with Gerald, which conveniently gets rid of both of them. The whole thing throws Granthony and Liz together again (they will both have to testify, and finally confess their feelings--again--while they're in the courthouse), so we get our big wedding with Francy as the flower girl...awww. Warren, meanwhile, realizes that April is actually more his type, and is around to console her, and takes her away in his helicoptor as soon as she turns 18. April always thought Warren was hot, even though, yes, he does look different in every strip. Mike and Deanna and their kids get hit by a car on their way to a booksigning. Boo hoo.

Oh, no, even better! Therese is teaching high school and gets into a teacher/student relationship with BOTH Gerald and Jesse (the kid Liz used to teach up North), and Jesse and Gerald get jealous and kill each other, and Therese gets put away - with the same outcome.

[Portia]

LOL, Avocado! See, people who don't read FBORFW just don't understand how amazing it can be.

Yeah, I thought that we would at least get a teen sex moral from the whole story, but like you said . . . it just kind of ended. Weird.

Gerald is as pasty in personality as he is in complexion. Seriously, they've been dating since they were 10---why is April his girlfriend by default? Does she have no other options?

Oh, Liz's lips distinguish her. Even though April has acquired them of late.

You're forgetting Becky! How could you forget Becky?

Gerald will cheat on April and impregnate Becky. This ruins her teen pop career. Gerald becomes a mini-Granthony, complete with moustache, left to raise their lovechild by himself.

I like April running off with Warren. I think the age of consent in Canada is 14, so he wouldn't even have to wait.

We need Paul in here somehow---in a bizarre turn of events, he dumps Mtig girl, and Liz decides he's hotter than Granthony, and ends up with him. Meanwhile, Granthony realizes Mtig girl would make the perfect mom for his daughter.

And Th'ere`se? All along, Mike's book was really about her! She is Sheilagh!

[Portia]

Mr. Old Man in panel 5:

NEVER wink like that again.

[Avocado]

And he's winking at JOHN! Oh, that is SO WRONG!!!

[Portia]

I KNOW!

Other forums didn't even mention this. I couldn't care less about who buys which house. The winking, though, must go.

[Portia]

Mr. Wink needs to be incorporated into our FBOFW predicitions. How will he be incorporated into the narrative?

[Avocado]

Well, Mr. Winky, like every other man in Canada, is living his life based on the possibility of eventually getting with Liz. That's probably why he and his wife moved next door in the first place: He's had his eye on her since he was just a middle-aged pediphile.

Now, of course, he wants Liz's parents to move into his house so that he can get in better with Liz. Somehow, this is going to result in a confrontation between himself and Granthony, who will again swoop in to save the day. But then--what a surprise!--it will somehow come out that he is Therese's biological father, and therefore Francy's grandfather. Liz and Granthony, being the white-bread ambassadors for family, will want to incorporate him into their lives, and ask him to move in with them...

(Huh, I'm beginning to doubt my prediction, mostly because Winky was winking at JOHN. Eww. Any ideas, Portia?)

Speaking of moving in, though, do you think that Liz is actually going to get her own apartment, or will she just shoot straight to moving in with either Warren or Granthony? Maybe "renting" a room in Granthony's house?

[Portia]

Mr. Winkbury hooks up with Lawrence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_better ... _comes_out

[Avocado]

But then what would happen to Lawrence and his "partner" Nicolas's landscaping business? Will Granthony buy it out?

[Portia]

Exactly.

[Avocado]

Oooo - did anyone else listen to the recording of April's birthday song from the FBOFW web site? It's a gem

[A Mom, but not yours]

Hmm... It seems that April's adventures concerning the night she was almost caught almost doing something have not ended yet after all.

[Avocado]

I know! Do you think Liz will tell on her?

(Finally, something besides "we're moving" and a bad pun on the last frame.)

[A Mom, but not yours]

I don't think she knows enough TO tell on her. She was speaking in such gross terms, that Liz really doesn't know anything other than that some boy is spreading rumors about her.

[Portia]

This pretty much sums up what the strip has become.

Mr. [W]right couldn't work out . . . because he's not Granthony.

Warren is just a friend . . . who changes every panel.

And Lizthony=twue wuv.

[A Mom, but not yours]

Except he's got a wedding date with someone else.

She waffled too long?

[Avocado]

Hooray! FINALLY, we can get to the fated conclusion of Lizthony (Portia, I like it)!

I'm actually really liking the way this is playing out. Yeah, it's kind of predictable, but I am SO glad that Granthony had actually taken some initiative to do something besides mope around for Liz. Ha! Now, the question is, Is the girl he asked to the wedding someone Liz already knows? Who will Liz ask now - the same gay friend who she took to a previous wedding?

I think that Liz and Granthony will hook up after the wedding anyway, and maybe leave their dates in the lurch (unless, of course, Liz asks the gay friend).

[A Mom, but not yours]

Even better. Perhaps their dates will hook up and leave the two of them in a lurch. <eg>

[Whistler]

Wait, are you guys talking about that comic? Sounds like a soap opera or something.